Abbe David's Diary

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At the time when Armand David, French missionary priest and famous scientist of his day, made his adventurous trips of exploration, China had been open to Europeans only twenty years. His intriguing diaries are witnesses of the daily incidents in his journeys, and give a vivid picture of the life, human as well as animal, in the China of the 1860’s. His style is as natural as speech: its clarity, the Abbé’s evident enjoyment of the situations, and his own delightful and unusual personality make this book pleasant reading indeed for everyone, while naturalists (particularly botanists) will find this great collector’s story specially interesting.